Summary: We will not investigate the Council’s response to Mrs X’s concerns about her relative’s care and support. This is because we are unlikely to be able to add anything more to the Council’s investigation.

The complaint

1. In summary, Mrs X complains that the person who holds Power of Attorney for her relative is not acting in her relative’s best interests. She says her relative is being bullied and coerced and their wishes are not being followed.
2. Mrs X also says social workers are not addressing her concerns properly and the Council delayed in dealing with her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant which includes the Council’s response.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) oversees the work of attorneys and court-appointed deputies and produces detailed guidance for them.
8. If there is a conflict about what is in a person’s best interests, and all efforts to resolve the dispute have failed, the Court of Protection might need to decide what is in the person’s best interests.
9. The Council wrote to Mrs X over two months after she raised her concerns about the Power of Attorney.
10. The Council apologized for the delay in sending the response. However, it said it could not legally share any information with Mrs X about her relative as Mrs X did not have any legal authority to represent her relative. It said its staff were committed to supporting her relative and would continue to take her concerns on board. But it could not go into detail as she did not hold the Lasting Power of Attorney.
11. The Council also noted that Mrs X was in contact with the OPG. And it advised her of her right to seek legal advice to pursue her concerns further.
12. The Council noted her comments about two staff members and said it would bring this to the attention of the staff’s management.
13. My final decision is we will not investigate. This is because we are unlikely to achieve anything to add to the Council’s response. Mrs X can raise concerns about the Attorney to the OPG and or seek legal advice to explore further.
14. The Council has also apologized for its complaints response delay which is satisfactory. Given the nature of the concerns raised it is not uncommon for queries to take longer than usual so there are insufficient reasons for us to pursue this point on its own.
15. The Council’s advice that it has informed the managers of the staff complained about is adequate. I do not see good reasons for us to investigate this further.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we are unlikely to add anything to the response already sent by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman